.In the on-going discussion of health care, death and dieing, I listened to a conservative pundit on the radio ridicule President Obama for saying we needed to think about changing our attitudes (as a culture) toward death. Throwing six-figures of life-prolonging technology and hospital stays at each person during their last year of life, is two things:
1. Not a dignified approach to death.
2. Unsustainable financially.
Let's see, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah . . . here!
I don't know if this Laura Ingram person was speaking for herself or the Conservative Movement in her shrill taunting of the president for bringing up the idea of a search for an alternative to our present approach to death. But it was clear that she and her loved ones were going to use every available means to assure they would continue to wake up in the morning. Or if not wake up, have a machine breath for their comatose bodies.
I'm a bit sensitive to this because in the final year of my mother's life, I had to make decisions like the Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order. This was when she first went into the nursing home and seemed as normal as anybody (well, for 2-3 minutes). At that time, it seemed she would live another 10 batty years.
Less than a year later her mental condition worsened, and that was enough to lead to a status of her not being really conscious for a several month period. Being immobile in bed created an infected bedsore of hellish proportions, and that was the cause of death.
At one point I had to decide to install a feeding tube since she was no longer eating. After much consideration, I signed off on it. In hindsight, I should have turned it down and moved her to hospice. This wouldn't have been a financial decision, but a moral one.
When death comes calling, our part is to greet it with dignity and courage.
Or leave the driving to someone that really understands what that means.
I firmly believe that doctors consider the death of a patient - under any conditions - to be a personal failure. And religion has made many people afraid to die. I am grateful that 1) I am a Humanist and 2) I have a DNR already in place. Although I don't like the thought of missing anything, I am convinced that death is just a part of life. Obama is right.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree. Did you read my post on Death with Dignity a week or so ago? My thinking was not only looking at death from a new perspective, but revering the process. Maybe with centers geared toward making end of life issues as comfortable as possible. It is just cruel to sustain life when all hope is gone. And not sustainable for our country. I personally am sick and tired of all the conservatives fighting everything just for the sake of fighting it! Either have a solution to some of these issues or get out of the way!
ReplyDeleteIt is good to consider these things BEFORE they are in our face. I don't try to dwell on death, but there are things I would like to resolve soon.
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